It's that time of year when we begin to reflect on the days past and look toward the new year. It's also the time when family comes to visit. Or you go to visit family. Usually around this time I am also in the kitschen werking to create some goodies to send to my friends. This year, it didn't happen. What had happened was.... First, I couldn't find a DIY card design I liked. So I conceded and bought cards. Second, I took that kinda last minute trip to Florida with my sister. So I wasn't in the kitchen early enough to get my baking/concoction making done in good time. Thirdly, I got home and tried to speed through the process. But, once I was done the packages wouldn't have reach people before the holiday mail blackout. In the end... I had a lot of goodies on my hands and not enough people to give them to. Also, I will be trying to get out "Happy New Year, So Glad the World Didn't End," packages after the 2nd. So if you usually get something in the mail from my kitschen in December, just look for it in January. I might remake these things or do something new... again. Prefences/request... in box me.

Smitten Kitchen Brioche Pretzels

I have linked to and used multiple recipes from the Smitten Kitchen blog. I love it. I find that her recipes never steer me wrong. It's where I got my favorite chocolate cookie recipe from (that is until I get my hands on some chocolate discs and make that fancy Frenchman's recipe). Well, Deb (the writer), has recently published her book! And most of the recipe's in the book are new ones not found on the website!!! I didn't buy the book (too rich for my blood) but I did squee and snatch it up off the library shelf. On a related note, The Kitchen (another fav blog of mine) has this particular recipe posted as a sneak peek online.

Homemade Beer Marshmallows Covered w/ Chocolate & Pretzels

Once the sugar bloom is at the correct temperature add it to the gleatine bloom. Whip that shizz on high for a bit. Add in vanilla. Continue whipping until it forms soft peaks.

My mother once in a while often puts in requests for baked goods for work. This year she as for a dozen cupcakes and 3 dozen cookies. I'm going to not even try to feign modesty and report I was happy to hear that at the annual holiday party her co-workers actually asked, "Ms. B, where are the cupcakes? Your daughter didn't make us any this year?"  My reputation grows ya'll! In the end she asked the day after for me to make 2 sets of goodies for her different program sites. Here's a report on what I made for her.

All Nutella Cupcakes

Now you know I loves me some chocolate and peanut butter. I also really like cookie butter/speculoos. One time I even made Oreo butter. All that is to say you should be able to guess I also love Nutella/hazelnut chocolate spread. I do! What I don't like about many of the Nutella cupcakes on the market is that they're usually just chocolate cake w/ Nutella buttercream. Not cool dude! I want that hazelnut goodness through and through. Fortunately, Robin of Bird on a Cake, feels the same way. She posted a GREAT way to incorporate hazelnut flavor into your chocolate cake recipe. The secret... (which is GENIUS in my mind) ADD HAZELNUT CREAMER!!!! My mind was blown you guys. So that's what I did.

 Holiday Cookie Cut-outs

Once again I used the best ever sugar cookie recipe. I figure, it works so... meh. I bought an amazing set of nesting circular cookie cutters waaaaay back when I lived in DC. I pulled them out. First I made like 2 dozen teeny tiny circle because the plane was to make them look like peppermints. Then my mom informed me she needed the cookies to be ready that afternoon (I thought I was baking for the next day) so that changed things a bit. I bumped up my cookie cutter size and only iced about 1 dozen faux peppermint cookies.






So yeah. I made these things for my mom. She took them to work and to share with others. They were enjoyed. Not a lot of process pics for this post b/c I used basic clutch recipes which I've shared before. But, my next post will include some new things... And you can be merry in knowing I continue to try my hand at different dessert creations.

Hey yo! I know it's the holidays and I have been busy doing that kind of stuff. But, I also took a trip with my big sis recently and it was fabulous! I don't get to hang out womyn a womyn with my big sister that often. So when she had to relocate down south for a new job I invited myself along for the car ride. It did not disappoint... and I think she had fun too!

First I took the bus (yeah greyhound!) from the Mitten to Indiana. My bus has some technical difficulties so the trip took longer than I thought. And... because I love to be over prepare I usually end up under prepared. In this case it means I forgot the dohickey that allows me to plug the USB cord side of my phone charger into the wall. As a result I was out of battery once I reach the Indianapolis bus terminal. With thoughts of the bus depot scene from Adventure in Babysitting in my head I devised a backup plan.

• Walk purposefully out of the depot and into downtown Indianapolis
• Have cell phone out as if I'm talking to someone 
• Find a free wifi source
• Use Kindle to send email to let sister know I'd arrived

Just as I was enacting step 2 of my awesome plan I stopped at the crosswalk and a car pulled up. A voice said, "Hey, are you lookin' for me?" Before I could totally freak out I took a closer look at the driver and it was... MAH BIG SISTER! Awesome timing right?! Stars aligned and we road off into the early evening toward her home. The next morning we woke up and began our Thelma & Louise (as her hubby and his brother called it) road trip to Florida. We (thankfully) broke the trip down into two days. The first day we drove to Atlanta and spent the night before continuing on to the sunshine state.

 The first(?) stop was to get gas and eat a bit of lunch. You must realize the as kids my mom NEVER stopped on road trips un-necessarily. And by necessary she meant to get gas. We (her children) were trained to go potty before getting on the road, to limit liquid intake, and to make sure to make a "pit stop" when we made a pit stop for gas. Family legend has it that when my twin and I were around  6 or 7 we road somewhere with my grandma and when she stopped at a rest stop we asked if it was a hotel.





T'was bittersweet dining though because the cafe was closing in a week. The food was good and to quote my sis, "...[That] sure beat the drive through." After lunch we drove on (and on) with the goal of making it to Atlanta in time to see the winter season finale of Scandal. We arrived in the Atlanta Metro area with about 45 minutes to spare. But first... food. We needed dinner. My sister was in the mood for Chipotle but there was no Chipotle in Smyrna, GA. We did find a new place in a shopping cluster called The Corner Taqueria so we hedged out bets and gave it a try.






Over all... not bad. I wouldn't call it a taqueria though b/c those tortillas were not "authentic." Yeah... I said it. A Mexican taco comes double wrapped in a corn tortilla- everyone knows that. I was also bummed b/c their elota appetizer was $5 and change. Five bucks for corn on the cob?! I don't know where they were getting their crema from but that was to fancy for even bourgeois me!

The next morning before hitting the road I begged my sister if we could dine at Waffle House. She obliged and it did not disappoint! I wish we had these in the Mitten. I wish I had a friend in the Mitten I could call up on a lazy Sunday and would drive to Toledo with me to go to the nearest Waffle House. I don't so I had to take the opportunity when it arose.



I got a Greek omlet w/ chicken, side of toast and home fries. We split a waffle.


I must say Keke's was worth the wait. Generous proportions and good food! Also, the OJ I ordered was locally source. My sister plans on bringing her kids when they get to town. After such a BIG breakfast we had to talk it out a bit. So we took a stroll through Downtown Disney. I had no clue what this meant. My mind was like, "Is Disney a town AND an amusement park?" "Does the mean Celebration, FL the Disney city?" I now know that Downtown Disney is like a huge outdoor mall with lots of Disney themed store and kiosks. I'd been joking w/ my sister about getting matching tattoos to commemorate our trip. They had a henna kiosk but I didn't want to wait 30 minutes for it to dry. I can barely sit still long enough for my nail polish to set. I knew I'd smudge that henna and end up looking like I had some weird tan or a new birthmark.












Later that evening we went to a sushi place for dinner... I can't even remember what it was called. But the food was awesome AND I got to try a fancy drink.

Gobble gobble.... It was Thanksgiving ya'll! Yes, as someone who wants to fight the cultural hegemony and legacy of cololinalism (deep thoughts yo!) I understand how difficult the history of Thanksgiving is. While I don't like that the holiday in some ways could be interpreted as a way to commemorate the forthcoming genocide of a people I do like to think I can take it and make it into something more positive on a personal level. The funny thing is... I'm not that big of a turkey fan. All those "Thanksgiving" foods? Not necessarily my favorites. Except for the mash potatoes, and I could eat those any day! I do love that the holiday gives my family a time to come together. I do love that the meal represents an abundance of all the wonderful things in our lives. I do love that Thanksgiving dinner represents a lot of what I love about food in general... a way to share culture and socialize. So let's talk about what I made!

As you may know I have a bit of a phobia of yeast. Last year I made sweet potato yeast dinner rolls for Thanksgiving and they turned out lovely. Then for Christmas I used a no-knead dough recipe to make sticky buns.... Slowly but surely yeast and I are starting to get along. So this year I want to make a roll but I also wanted to make biscuits. In the end I found a recipe that was a compromise. Lemon-y Angel Biscuits have baking soda, baking powder, AND yeast in them. The recipe claims they've got a biscuit texture with the light and fluffiness of a bread. I was curious enough to find out.

Due to the lemon essence of this bread product I wanted to make something tasty to accompany it. And you all should know I love a compound butter! In the spirit of the season I made a cranberry butter. I took about a tablespoon of the cranberry sauce my mom made and blended it into some softened butter. Then I plopped the mix onto some wax paper and rolled into a log. Set it in the fridge to set... then we spread it onto the warm biscuits during dinner.



I know you're probably wonder what we had for dessert... we had pie and cake. I made a bundt cake. I tweaked a recipe for a bourbon pecan cake. Instead of bourbon I added pumpkin. Then I added maple syrup for to the glaze in lieu of bourbon. Be forewarned... this is a pound cake and it's not healthy.





I'ma skip a few steps here. But just know I then whipped the egg whites to stiff peaks. Then I folded them in. 




When putting the cake into the pan I did alternate layers of pecans and batter. I forgot how long it takes for these things to cook. A little under 2 hrs later I pulled the cake out and let it cool. After about 10 min. I inverted it out of the pan and onto a cooling rack. While the cake cooled I whisked up the glaze: 2 cups powdered sugar, 1 tablespoon maple syrup, a little milk.






What are some of the must haves at your Thanksgiving day table? Do you like to experiment? How do you celebrate?